Update

I took Keeper Boy to see everyone's favorite orthopedic surgeon (I think Keeper Boy's hockey club keeps Dr. G in business!). He said it is not a hairline fracture, but a full-on break. Doh!

He fitted him with a different splint; one that allows the other joints in the finger to move, while protecting the broken part, and said to come back in three weeks for a follow-up and another set of x-rays. It will likely take about six weeks to heal.

Best news for Keeper Boy is that Dr. G said he has no restrictions and he can play with the splint on.

Happy Keeper Boy.

It was bound to happen... I'm surprised it took 8 years!

So Keeper Boy has his first hockey-related injury; first sports-related injury at all, actually. He has a hairline fracture in his left pinky finger. That's his catch glove hand.

He sustained the injury on Wednesday night, while simultaneously attempting to catch a football thrown by his coach and elude his teammate (the other goalie), who was trying to keep him from getting open for the catch. This was an actual drill and it was fun to watch. Not necessarily as useful for the goalies as for the skaters, but they were having fun, too. Anyway, Keeper Boy hurt his finger. I was actually taking a video of it on my Blackberry for Hubby (who was away on business) when it happened and you can see him shaking his hand a little. But it wasn't enough that I even noticed anything was wrong at the time.

He finished practice, and told me that night his finger hurt. The next morning he said it still hurt. It was a little swollen, but barely. I ran out at lunch and picked him up a finger splint, and he participated fully in practice that night. Friday morning, he said it wasn't feeling any better. So after school on Friday, I took him to the urgent care (after the high school's homecoming parade that he didn't want to miss because all the groups throw out candy to the spectators... so it obviously wasn't painful enough to be an emergency!).

The doctor there took an x-ray and said he thinks it's a hairline fracture right above the top joint of his pinky. But he's not 100% positive. He wants us to take him to see an orthopedic doctor. I asked what would be done if the fracture is confirmed. As I suspected, the answer was really nothing other than what we've already done. He recommended that he not play until after we've seen the ortho doc though. While this is annoying because we know there is nothing to be done for the finger other than a splint, we also don't want him to go back in net too soon and have something flukey happen and have him really break his finger!

So, he went to practice this morning, but participated only in the skating drills. And he, unfortunately, is missing a two-day goalie clinic this weekend because of the finger. He will go to practice again tomorrow morning, but it's a scrimmage, so I guess he'll just sit on the bench and help open and close the door. Not much else he can do.

And first thing Monday morning, I'll try to make an appointment with an orthopedic doctor, so he or she can confirm the fracture, tell us how long to keep the splint on, and tell us when he can play again. Because at this point, that's really all he or she can do. Oh, and probably charge us/our insurance an arm and a leg to give us that golden piece of information. Sigh.

Seriously?!

I ran out to CVS at lunch with a list. While grabbing the items on my list, I (of course) saw a few things on sale that jumped into my basket. When I got up to the Pharmacy counter to pay (because I needed headache medicine and the kind I swear by is only sold behind the Pharmacy counter even though it's non-prescription), I realized I wasn't going to get the sale prices because I don't have a CVS card. You know, every store has one now to track your purchases, and you have to have it in order to get the sale prices. I have never gotten one from CVS because, until recently I didn't shop there all that much. But I find myself going there more often because locations are convenient to both work and home. But I digress.

The lady at the Pharmacy was kind enough to scan one she had there so I got the sale prices and saved a whopping $1.50 I think. But I decided I should just get a stupid card. She told me to stop at the counter up front. So I went up front and waited my turn.

When it was my turn, I walked up and told the man I needed a CVS card. He walked away coughing - without covering his mouth, I might add. By the time he got what he needed and came back he sounded like he not only had a giant hairball, but he might have swallowed an entire cat! But that wasn't the worst of it. As he got back to the register, hacking and gagging all the while, he reached into his mouth, pulled out his gum, and (presumably) threw it into a trashcan by his feet. He then immediately grabbed my new CVS cards WITH THE SAME FINGERS HE JUST HAD IN HIS MOUTH and handed them to me.

You can bet I slathered my hands and those cards with hand sanitizer the minute I got back in my car!

Talk about gagging.

Gracious...

Professional athletes often get a bad rap for being rude and unappreciative of their fans. Perhaps it's because almost all professional athletes I've met or observed in person wear skates to ply their crafts (and in general, hockey players don't seem to have the same level of drama that, say, football players and basketball players have, but I have to say the DC area has some pretty gracious athletes. I have observed this in action not once, but twice, in the past week alone.

Washington Capitals winger Mike Knuble has a son who plays travel hockey at the same rink Keeper Boy and J-Mav play at. Twice in the past week I've seen him there. I think the man has the patience of a saint... or he's hard of hearing. I'm not sure which. There was a gaggle of mini-mite-aged kids (5 and 6 year olds for those unfamiliar with hockey terminology) who kept yelling, "There's Mike Knuble!" Then they'd run past him as he was attempting to have a conversation with someone in the lobby and yell, "Hey Mike Knuble!" And then they'd find a reason to run past again and scream, "Peace Mike Knuble." It was kind of obnoxious, actually. He took it all in stride and apparently told another parent that it gets better after the newness of seeing an NHL player in the rink wears off. He signed autographs for anyone to asked... on shirts, sticks, hats, bags, and paper. Last week he was out on the ice helping coach his son's practice. Now how cool is that for those kids? I imagine his time at the rink will dwindle now that the NHL season is getting underway and he will be traveling more. But it's great to see him around the rink supporting youth hockey.

P.S. He's a BIG dude!

To a man, every other Capital or former Capital that I've had the opportunity to meet over the past 17 years of living in this area has been gracious with his time, as well. Another instance that sticks out is with Mike Green, one of the Caps' top D-men.

Last season, Keeper Boy's hockey team went down to Kettler (the Capitals' practice facility) to watch a pre-season Captials practice. After the practice, Mike Green came out and talked to the team, signed all their stuff, and then took them on a tour of the facility. He also took them into the locker room and introduced them around to the rest of the team. He spent over and hour with the boys and didn't seem rushed or annoyed by any of their questions, no matter how silly they were. It's something those hockey-crazed kids will likely not forget any time soon.

P.S. He's a big dude, too!

Two hockey seasons ago, there was a kid on Keeper Boy's team whose family is neighbors with Clinton Portis, Running Back for the Washington Redskins. While I didn't meet him, I saw him at the rink several times that season watching the kids practice. After one such practice, he went into the locker room and took a picture with the team. From what I saw, he was very accomodating and soft-spoken. And that was during his "uncooperative years" here. Apparently this year he's a new Clinton Portis. Anyway, Keeper Boy is no Redskins fan, but he thought it was pretty cool to meet Clinton Portis and get an autographed picture of him with his hockey team... and he didn't even make any rude comments claiming the Cowboys were going to give the Skins a smackdown!

P.S. He is NOT a big dude. At all.

This year, Keeper Boy has the son of professional figure skater Michael Weiss on his hockey team. Mike is also an accomplished hockey player. He helps with the team's off-ice conditioning, and also gets out on the ice and helps with practices. I assume he will continue to do so until it's time for him to go on tour late this year. He is a great guy and has a really good rapport with the kids. He doesn't seem to get mobbed at the rink like a professional hockey player does, but I am positive that if he did, he, too, would stand and sign autographs for as long as it took to get to everyone.

I just think it's cool. You hear about the Albert Haynesworth and Gilbert Arenas and Ben Roethlisberger types all the time... the ones who are in the news for all the wrong reasons. But the ones who are gracious day in and day out, the ones who stand in the parking lot after practice signing everything that is shoved in their faces by adoring kids, the ones who get involved in local youth sports through their own children or just because... those are the gems. And we seem to be lucky enough to have a treasure chest in our area.

Heard...

As I'm standing in the bathroom putting on my makeup this morning...

J-Mav: What's that?

Me: Powder.

J-Mav: What's it for?

Me: It makes my skin look smoother.

J-Mav: Oh. Why do you put that stuff under your eyes?

Me: It makes my eys look bigger, I guess.

J-Mav: Mama?

Me: Yes?

J-Mav: You're pretty.

[Pause]

J-Mav: When you're done.

Three weeks, 1,000 miles...

And they're off...

Mom and Dad are headed to a hotel by the airport tonight for an early morning flight bound for Alaska. Third time in five years, I think. Maybe third time in four years. This time they are doing a two-week re-positioning cruise leaving from Vancouver, going up to Ketchikan, Alaska and then back south to San Diego, CA. Once they get off the ship, they are hanging out for a few days and getting together with my mom's cousin and my dad's great uncle (who shares my dad's name), who both live in CA. Or maybe they're getting together with my dad's cousin and his family. I don't remember. Either way, they're taking a cool trip and seeing family they haven't seen in eons!

Things my kids learned at Grandma & Grandpa's last month...

The boys also learned some things while staying at Grandma & Grandpa's house earlier in August...

• Minor league baseball games rock!
  
• When Grandpa tells you to do something, you better do it, or you might not like the consequences.
  
• It wouldn't be a trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house if they didn't eat at least once at the Bird-in-Hand Restaurant.
  
• Riding in an Amish buggy is cool.
  
• Everyone should visit Roadside America.
  
• Cow manure still stinks.
  
• They still have lots of new stuff to do next year!

Heard...

Background: We were at lunch on Sunday with my parents, my aunt & uncle, and my cousins, who had all come to Hershey to see a hockey game Keeper Boy was playing in. We had just been discussing the moose my one cousin had gotten on a recent hunting trip to Maine and about how the meat is not called venison, but is instead called, simply, moose meat. Original. Anyway, after that, the discussion turned to my niece, and someone asked how she is doing at college and how she likes her roommate. My mom was explaining that her roommate has Asberger's Disease. J-Mav got this confused look on his face and said to Hubby,

"What are ass burgers?"